Liberals to leaders: 'Close the camps'

By BRIAN WALKER

Hagadone News Network

COEUR d'ALENE — The nationwide progressive initiative MoveOn.Org sparked movement from both sides of the immigration debate in Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday.

About 25 MoveOn supporters rallied at the Coeur d’Alene offices of Republican Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch to submit letters of concern to staffs of the elected officials about migrant children who died after being taken into U.S. immigration custody at detention centers. They asked the elected officials to close the camps.

"It's immoral, cruel and inhumane," said Coeur d'Alene's Suzanne Marshall, who organized the local letter-writing campaign in support of MoveOn.Org. "We're not calling for open immigration, but we should have dignified treatment at the border. There are alternatives to throwing people in jail."

About 15 MoveOn.Org opponents, many wearing red hats and shirts in support of President Trump and listening to patriotic music, countered with their belief that liberals caused the issue by not dealing with the immigration crisis. Their hope is to "keep America great" and safe in support of Trump by deporting criminal aliens and building and funding the border wall.

"I'm for the president, I'm for America and I'm tired of the fighting," Post Falls' Debbie Tull said. "I'm proud of our country for trying to be there for others. All we try to do is help our neighbors."

Both sides were peaceful in their approach inside and outside the offices while still expressing their views. The groups staged for nearly an hour about 50 feet apart before the offices re-opened around noon.

Some members of each group occasionally flashed their signs and took photos of the other side.

When the offices opened, with the counter demonstrators standing by with signs, half of the MoveOn supporters filed into Risch's office to read or drop off letters and comment forms. The other half walked to Crapo's office to do the same.

Some attendees attempted to engage the other side with questions or short conversation, but the interactions were minimal before both groups dispersed.

Republican Brent Regan, among the counter demonstrators, held the door open for MoveOn supporters and watched inside as they spoke to Sid Smith, Risch's regional director. Others stood with signs outside the offices for MoveOn supporters to see as they left.

Crapo said he agrees that children should not be separated from families; that the issue needs to be resolved and safety should be sought for those legally entering the United States.

Crapo said there is a need for "rational" immigration policy that funds border enforcement and does not grant amnesty to those who enter the U.S. illegally or illegally overstay their visas.

"No person who breaks the law should obtain any benefit toward either permanent legal residency or citizenship as a result of their illegal conduct," Crapo wrote in a letter. "This is unfair both to American citizens and to those who have gone through legal channels for immigration to the U.S."

American citizens should also have the first right to access jobs, he said. Crapo supports a guest worker program that provides employers with a reliable, verifiable system to identify employees.

The Senate on June 26 passed a bill that Crapo supported to send $4.6 billion to address the border crisis. Of that amount, $112 million would go toward migrant medical care, including clothing, baby formula and hygiene products. Another $45 million would go to toward detainee medical, $20 million for alternatives to detention and $2.88 billion for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program. Both Risch and Crapo supported the bill.

The House passed its own version of the bill on June 25, so the differences between the bills must now be reconciled.

Smith said Risch's office appreciates the opportunity to hear from North Idahoans about a variety of views.

"We always try to be respectful and give everyone an equal chance to be heard," Smith said. "We have a humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border, and Congress acknowledged that last week with the overwhelming bipartisan passage of the emergency supplemental.”

Shem Hanks, chairman of the Kootenai County Democrats, said the demonstration was neither organized by his group nor has it passed a resolution in support of MoveOn.Org.

However, he said the group has concerns about the living conditions at detention centers.

"We definitely oppose the separation of families and unsafe and unsanitary living conditions of what's become internment camps," he said. "It's a human rights issue."

The local Democrats passed a resolution about a year ago opposing the separation of families at the border.

Coeur d'Alene's Kathy Simmons equated the situation to repeating the history of slavery.

"We're doing the same thing at the border, not what Jesus told us to do and love one another," she said.

Republican Deborah Rose, who lives in the Athol area, said she believes MoveOn is really about an attack on Trump and Republicans.

"They're calling these centers concentration camps, and that is absurd," she said. "These children are far better off where they are at. You just can't set them free. A third of the children came without their parents."